Oh My Godheads is seize the flag however with gods, penguins, and large toes

Within the ’90s I used to play a shareware sport known as Seize the Flag, a turn-based model of the game that was pure and literal—two groups operating throughout a subject to steal one another’s flags. Later, seize the flag turned up as a mode in multiplayer video games like Unreal Match, Halo, and Quake, however even the oddest Quake mod did not reinvent seize the flag fairly as surprisingly as Oh My Godheads.

Spanish indie studio Titutitech (with assist from the Sq. Enix Collective) have turned it into an area multiplayer sport that has extra in frequent with Towerfall than an FPS, or the stately turn-based sport I performed in opposition to the AI after I was younger. In Oh My Godheads the flags are Easter Island-style statues, each the skull of a god like Zeus or Bastet.

Generally the godheads activate you as you race again to your base (Zeus blasts lightning, Bastet reverses your controls). Your opponents, which can embody a skeleton and a elaborate penguin in a high hat, can acquire weapons like exploding pies or a foot that summons an enormous leg from the sky to stomp everybody. The degrees are temples in unique areas that appear like locations Indiana Jones is about to swing by.

Oh My Godheads may be very over-the-top and whereas I did not have as a lot enjoyable enjoying it solo I did with that DOS shareware sport, as quickly as I satisfied another person to affix me it changed into the sort of messy brawl that, like Gang Beasts or BattleBlock Theater, has you shouting on the display.

I talked to developer Federico Sauret concerning the origins of Oh My Godheads, and why it has large toes in addition to heads.

PC GAMER: What was the preliminary concept? Was it the godheads?

FEDERICO SAURET: Once we began our sport we needed to be sofa multiplayer, it was simply concerning the flag—truly it wasn’t the flag, it was a trophy as a result of it was the one asset we discovered on the web at no cost. We have been carrying trophies right here and there and when our artist began to sketch concepts, I do not know why, he determined to place eyes on the trophy.

…folks beloved after they have been getting screwed. The tougher it was, the extra they laughed.

Federico Sauret

Then we thought, “Hey, how concerning the trophy performs in opposition to you and is evil and after some time carrying the trophy it is going to eat you?” That is how the entire concept got here out. We determined as a result of it was working, it was enjoyable, we determined to have completely different ones.

The gods having completely different results is fascinating. Bastet is the one I hate—I hate having my controls reversed.

Now most of them are in opposition to you, however initially we needed to have half of the gods evil, half of them good, so you’ll typically acquire a bonus if you carry the god. We realized by playtests and particularly going to sport exhibits that folks beloved after they have been getting screwed. The tougher it was, the extra they laughed. Even the folks carrying them. We all the time begin educating the sport with Bastet.

Discuss to me concerning the power-ups. They’ve a variety of persona too, the foot particularly.

Every thing we did, together with the heads, we are saying is “play-centric design.” We add issues and if it is enjoyable, preserve it. If it is not, take away it, then preserve going. We had lots of of concepts for gods and for objects, and saved attempting, saved attempting, all the time attempting to do one thing humorous. In some unspecified time in the future we have been actually bold, most likely over-ambitious, and we needed the sport to have huge gods over there doing issues and all that. We designed the leg to be there as, I do not know, the leg of Zeus? It is particularly humorous when folks do not know that it is there after which abruptly an enormous leg will seem.

What makes it particularly humorous to me is it jogs my memory of the Monty Python foot.

Yeah, I’ve to say we’re huge followers of Monty Python.

You talked about taking the sport to exhibits—it does seem to be the sort of sport that will go down effectively at a conference. What is the response been?

Response is actually good. Truly for us it has been the important thing aspect for this sport to have the ability to go to exhibits—because of Sq. Enix we might go to many, additionally we went to others on our personal—and see folks enjoying. We might develop a variety of the sport based mostly on their response to issues. See the place they have been having issues, what kind of heads have been enjoyable or not and so forth. It was additionally actually good for us by way of elevating our vitality, as a result of we’re solely 4 folks on the workforce engaged on this sport. We’re placing in a variety of hours, all the time centered on the factor. Having the ability to exit and see folks enjoying and reacting to the sport—often folks laughing and shouting, typically insulting one another.

…the sport is designed to be offline and we expect the most effective enjoyable is offline in the mean time.

Federico Sauret

We’re nonetheless studying new methods of enjoying. What stunned us a little bit is that even mother and father will get pleasure from with their youngsters. In exhibits particularly you get a variety of youngsters that go collectively or youngsters can go along with their mother and father. Usually it was like one dad or mum and one child, the child needed to play, the daddy or the mom did not wish to play. We satisfied them to play, inform them it is easy and also you’re gonna get it. They do they usually have enjoyable, they usually finish laughing and with a smile. It is actually, I do not know the right way to say the English, but it surely’s actually making us completely satisfied to see that.

Do you play a variety of multiplayer video games collectively as a workforce?

We truly got here up with this concept as a result of we have been already enjoying a variety of native multiplayer video games, even typically gathering with different associates and enjoying tremendous previous video games, like Nintendo 64 multiplayer video games. When Towerfall or Nidhogg got here out we noticed it was attainable to do a multiplayer sport these days and to make it your challenge as an indie. That gave us the braveness to say, “OK. Let’s do it. Let’s elevate our security web and do that.”

You talked about Nidhogg, and one of many trials that it and different indie multiplayer video games face goes past native to on-line. Is that one thing you wish to do for Oh My Godheads?

In the intervening time no. We designed the sport to be offline. Making it on-line in fact would develop the viewers and we get many individuals asking us, “Please make it on-line!” We might like to however the sport is designed to be offline and we expect the most effective enjoyable is offline in the mean time.

One different factor I needed to ask you about is the trailer and particularly the nation music that is in it as a result of it looks as if such an uncommon selection.

Considered one of our collaborators is an American man who loves nation and making music and the humorous factor about this trailer, which truly has labored very well, he did every little thing. He did the script, he did the music, he did the singing, and he even did the trailer—the composition of the pictures. He did that utilizing a Nintendo DS. There’s some software that permits you to do little movies so all of the preparation for the trailer he did with a Nintendo DS.

We additionally hope to have some collaborations with different sport builders to have characters based mostly on theirs or godheads based mostly on them.

Federico Sauret

That is wonderful.

He is not with us now—he is alive, he does not work within the firm. He is a collaborator, however some other challenge we do the very first thing I’ll do is ask him, “Are you able to please make us a trailer?” As a result of that trailer has opened many doorways to us.

It is undoubtedly memorable. So are issues just like the crashed UFO within the pyramid degree, and the attention on the pyramid. Do you have got tales behind odd issues concerning the ranges like that? Is there ‘lore’ to Oh My Godheads?

Sure and no. The sport is impressed by motion motion pictures from the ’80s and ’90s, particularly issues like Indiana Jones and every little thing round treasure looking and even video games like Tomb Raider. We needed to go along with humorous stereotypes from these motion pictures after which add our personal loopy contact to it. We determined to provide you with completely different locations on this planet and naturally Egypt needed to be there. The attention and the aliens across the UFO, it is simply to make it extra loopy, get together, humorous. There is a good variety of little surprises or particulars which are within the degree however just about by no means present, simply when the digicam occurs to indicate them.

Issues just like the fossils beneath the bottom.

Each degree we tried to do one thing completely different by way of gameplay so there’s one easy degree, which is the pyramid, that degree is the place individuals are presupposed to be taught to play, after which we now have one degree the place there’s only one base and it’s a must to battle for a swap to alter the colour of the bottom. There’s one other degree with large boulders that make it actually exhausting to traverse. There’s ranges that play with peak and it’s a must to preserve leaping or take shortcuts and stuff like that.

What’s subsequent for you? Oh My Godheads comes out subsequent month, do you have got an concept in your subsequent challenge already?

Our concept after we started as an organization was to make native multiplayer video games and give attention to that, specialize on that. We’re transferring onto on-line as a result of we see the viewers actually desires it however we wish to preserve specializing in offline, so we’ll attempt to do one thing—we’re beginning the following challenge now and attempting to see if we are able to convey the 2 worlds collectively into one thing.

Apart from that we actually hope Oh My Godheads will work effectively as a result of we do have numerous concepts that we wish to preserve including to the sport if issues go effectively. We additionally hope to have some collaborations with different sport builders to have characters based mostly on theirs or godheads based mostly on them. We’re in talks right here and there with issues like that and we hope to maintain including content material. However it is going to depend upon the success of the sport.

Oh My Godheads is in Early Entry and shall be launched in full on December 5.